Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

When we left off yesterday, nine of Jacob's sons had just returned to Canaan with food from Egypt in the midst of a famine.

Joseph kept Simeon behind as a hostage in Egypt in

hopes of getting to see his brother Benjamin, but Jacob refused to let his son Benjamin go to

Egypt. Today we pick up with Jacob and his sons finishing off the grain they got from Egypt. Jacob

finally agrees to let his sons go back to Egypt for more food and take his youngest son Benjamin

with them, but only after Judah pledges to bear the blame if anything happens. Jacob sends them

off with some local treats, things that probably make Joseph homesick when he sees them, as well as

double the money so that they could pay back what they found in their grain bags.

They thought it was God's punishment, but Jacob chooses to optimistically believe for once

and give the benefit of the doubt, saying maybe it was just an oversight. He resolves to leave

the matter in God's hands. When they arrive in Egypt, Joseph sees that his full brother Benjamin is with him, so he orders

them to his home. He's planning a feast, but they think they're in trouble. Wouldn't you?

This is terrifying. In their panic, they try to explain to his servant what happened, but he

already knows because he was in on it. Simeon, the hostage, joins them,

and then, in front of all 11 brothers, Joseph offers Benjamin a special blessing.

Then Joseph seats all the brothers in exact order, from oldest to youngest. First 33 says, the men looked at one another in amazement when this

happened. If there were 11 brothers, many of whom were very close in age, what are the chances that

some rando in Egypt could accurately arrange them precisely according to birth order? They're

astonished. Then, Joseph continues to give Benjamin's

special treatment in front of them, giving him five times the portion sizes. Part of this could be

because Benjamin is his only full brother and he wants to bless him, but part of it is likely to test

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